Undone
by Winwin-chan
Summary: 15 years have passed since the Great Shinobi war has ended, and in that time, much has changed. When Sarada Uchiha, Sasuke and Sakura's daughter, is kidnapped, and no one is able to reach Sasuke, Naruto vows to do all he can to save her. After years of lost friendship, Naruto and Sakura must once again work together to rescue Sarada and unveil the mysteries of the past.


Hey all. So, this story takes place after that ending we got there. Basically, it's undoing what was done. That's why it's called "Undone" ;) This story is NaruSaku, and you needn't worry! I'm going to try to make it as appropriate as possible and avoid cheating/adulterous stuff because I love these characters and I feel like they wouldn't do that. So bear with me, I've got some crazy ideas and it'll be one rockin' ride!

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><p>"Sarada! Are your chores finished yet?"<p>

Sakura hurried down the hall, a basket of laundry balanced on her hip. It had been an entire month since Sasuke had been home, and he had just called letting her know that he would be back tonight.

"Sarada! What are you—" She stopped short as she walked past Sarada's open door and saw her daughter lying in bed, a book open on her lap. Clothes were thrown all across the room and books piled up on all inches of the floor. "Sarada Uchiha. I told you over an hour ago to get to work on your room! Your father is coming back tonight and we can't have him coming home to a mess of a place!"

"Yeah yeah," Sarada muttered, flipping the page. "Gotta make everything perfect for dad, who's _never here_. Maybe we can trick him into thinking we're actually clean since he never stays long enough to actually know what it's like to live with us."

Stomps sounded in the room and in an instant Sakura had snatched Sarada's book out of her hands.

"Hey!"

"Sarada, you will never talk about your father like that again, do you understand me?" Sarada opened her mouth to retort but stopped at the look in her mother's eyes. Instead, she rolled her eyes and pushed herself out of bed.

"Fine, fine. Whatever. I'll get to work, all right?"

Sakura nodded her head. "Good. He'll be here in less than an hour. I'm going to start getting to work on dinner."

As she left her daughter's room, she tried to ignore the anxiety that rippled through her as her daughter's words echoed through her mind, over and over:_ Gotta make everything perfect for dad, who's never here._

She shrugged it off and headed into the kitchen. Sasuke would be home soon enough.

_The next morning_

Sakura awoke to the sun pouring through the windows. She shot up—a reflex from years of ninja training—and let out a gasp as a pain shot through her back.

"Stupid…" she muttered to herself. "That's what I get for falling asleep at the… table." In an instant, everything came flooding back to her. She was sitting in a wood chair and had spent all night bent over, her head resting on the kitchen table. She had spent all night, waiting in that stiff wooden chair for Sasuke to come home.

But he had never come.

She looked to the counter, where riceballs and dumplings sat cool and stale from sitting out the long night. Beside her, the phone blinked. A voice message.

She wiped the crust from her sleepless eyes and held the phone to her ear.

"Sakura. Sorry. Something came up. I won't be home for another few weeks… Two at the latest. I'll keep you updated."

The phone cut off to the ringing dial tone. There wasn't even an "I love you."

Sakura sat unmoving, just frozen with the phone against her face. She should have known. It was always like this. Always. In their ten years of marriage, he'd no doubt spent less than a third of that time with his family. Once again, Sarada's words came back to her: _Gotta make everything perfect for dad, who's never here._

The phone clattered to the table. Sakura buried her face in her hands.

That morning, Sarada awoke to the sound of her mother's sobs.

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><p>The clock on his bedside table flashed 5:30.<p>

Naruto closed his eyes, savoring the comfort of his bed for one last moment before he eased himself out from under the blankets and silently walked to the closet. He had gotten used to feeling his way around in the dark. After all, he didn't want to awake Hinata.

Once he was dressed in his ninja gear with his hokage cloak draped across his shoulders, he quietly snuck from the room. Hinata's quiet breathing disappeared behind him as he shut the door.

It was routine. Out before sunrise, back after sundown.

Spend as little time possible as he could in their small, sickeningly clean apartment.

Before he left, however, he pushed open Bolt's door. A sliver of moonlight rested on his face as he slept, snoring softly. Naruto smiled to himself. The snoring stopped as the little boy rolled onto his side and flopped his arm over the side of the bed, and then it began once again. Naruto came to his son's side and planted a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"I love you," he whispered. Bolt didn't stir. With a wan smile, Naruto entered the room next door where Himawari slept soundly. "You too, Himawari."

He looked fondly at his daughter for a lingering moment before he shut the door and returned to the kitchen.

"Naruto-kun."

He only jumped slightly at the sound of his wife's voice. Like a guilty child caught in the act of breaking a rule, he slowly turned to face Hinata's blank eyes.

"Good morning, Hinata."

"Good morning."

A silence fell over them.

"I, uh... my meetings went late last night," he finally said.

She nodded. "Okay."

Silence.

"Look, I need to get going…" he said, backing towards the kitchen.

"I know." She looked down at her feet. Naruto stopped moving away.

"What? Hinata, what's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nothing… there's nothing wrong."

Lie.

He had been married to her long enough to know when she was lying. She never wanted to say anything to vindicate him. That had led to a long marriage of nothing but buried truths and little communication.

Even so, he just nodded and headed into the kitchen. Light from sunrise began to cast a reddish glow in the room. He opened the fridge and grabbed the lunch Hinata had prepared the night before.

"You didn't happen to also make a dinner, did you? I'm staying late again."

"Again?"

Naruto glanced at her as he put the lunch into his bag. "Yeah, again." Hinata wrapped her arms around herself and sighed, pointing at a tupperware in the fridge.

"There are leftovers from last night in there. You can bring those." Naruto nodded absently as he took it out of the fridge and placed it into his bag. "You know, the kids miss you a lot when you're gone. Bolt was really upset you didn't go to his presentation yesterday."

"Something came up."

"I… I miss you a lot when you're gone, too."

Naruto paused and looked at her, his expression blank. Then he turned away, slipping his bag onto his shoulders. "Well, I'm really busy. Sorry." Without another word, he threw open the door, welcoming the cool, morning air inside, and left.


End file.
